{"id":3177,"date":"2019-07-25T19:21:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T19:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/?p=3177"},"modified":"2021-08-29T19:41:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T19:41:27","slug":"the-citys-traffic-is-extremely-dangerous-advocates-urge-city-to-take-steps-to-improve-safety-for-walkers-bicyclists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/the-citys-traffic-is-extremely-dangerous-advocates-urge-city-to-take-steps-to-improve-safety-for-walkers-bicyclists\/","title":{"rendered":"The city\u2019s \u2018traffic is extremely dangerous\u2019 Advocates urge city to take steps to improve safety for walkers, bicyclists"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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OCEAN CITY \u2014 In the wake of recent pedestrian fatalities and accidents involving automobiles and bicycles, the public called upon the city to increase traffic safety measures.<\/p>\n

At City Council\u2019s July 11 meeting, resident Susan Cracovaner noted that automobiles on Asbury and West avenues regularly exceed the speed limit, traveling at 35 to 40 mph on 25-mph streets.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy concern is that if one of them runs into the street at 35 to 40 miles an hour in a 25 mile and hour speed zone, somebody\u2019s going to get hurt, somebody\u2019s going to get killed,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she spoke to police in the offseason about traffic. Police responded by parking an unmanned cruiser along the street as a deterrent to speeders, she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey (traffic) just blow past those cars. We need to do something about that,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she has witnessed vehicles making U-turns in the middle of intersections without regarding pedestrians or bicyclists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI know it\u2019s a legal thing to do, but with the limited sights of some of these intersections it\u2019s extremely difficult and dangerous when people are making U-turns and there\u2019s pedestrians crossing as well as bikers crossing,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she also has seen motorists looking at their cellphones and wearing headphones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy concern would be that they can\u2019t hear ambulances or firetrucks coming up behind them. I suspect that\u2019s not a legal thing to do,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She added it\u2019s not just motorists who are distracted. Bikers are riding down the street with headphones on, riding two or three abreast on the street and talking selfies as they bike.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re not following the rules of the road which causes all kinds of problems,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pedestrians crossing the street are also looking at their cellphones and not watching their surroundings, she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy issue with pedestrians is we have signs that are on cones in streets that say it\u2019s state law to yield to pedestrians within the crosswalk. Past 34th Street there\u2019s a big flashing police sign that says state law says you have to stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk,\u201d Cracovaner said. \u201c\u2018At\u2019 and \u2018within\u2019 are two different things and I think we need to be consistent as a city. It\u2019s either within or at.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cracovaner proposed better enforcement of the speed limits and slowing down traffic. She also suggested a police bike patrol to ticket any bicyclists talking on their cellphones while riding, taking selfies or engaging in distracted behavior.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI think it\u2019s incumbent upon us to help educate people as to what they should do and what they shouldn\u2019t do, especially as it comes to bikers. There\u2019s a lot of people who come here, they\u2019re on bikes once a year, when they come to Ocean City. We need to start helping them understand what is right and what is wrong to do,\u201d Cracovaner said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ocean City Police Lt. Brian Hopely of the Traffic Safety Division, in an interview with the Ocean City Sentinel in June, said it\u2019s important for pedestrians and drivers to make eye contact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cEye contact I think is probably one of the most important and underutilized things that happen when a pedestrian makes the effort to cross a street,\u201d Hopely said. \u201cThey really shouldn\u2019t ever assume the driver of the car sees them or is going to stop for them as they make their way across the street. They should absolutely look both ways and make eye contact with that driver to see if that driver recognizes that they\u2019re there. \u2026 Without the eye contact that equation isn\u2019t completed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hopely also warned of the dangers distracted driving poses to both pedestrians and motorists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPeople are constantly distracted whether they\u2019re walking, on a bicycle or driving a car,\u201d Hopely said. \u201cPedestrians see the light turn green for them, they enter the crosswalk and they\u2019re literally crossing the street while looking at their cellphone. It couldn\u2019t be more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ocean City has a public education campaign for traffic safety that includes public announcements and trailers with traffic safety information parked in prominent locations.The city\u2019s website contains tips for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Motorists should \u201cstop for pedestrians in crosswalks, obey speed limits, wear a seatbelt, avoid using your cell phone while driving and always make eye contact with pedestrians and bicyclists,\u201d according to information on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pedestrians should use crosswalks at intersections, obey signs and signals while crossing streets and wear brightly colored clothing and make eye contact with bicyclists and motorists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ocean City High School students in the TV media program worked with the Ocean City Police Department\u2019s Traffic Safety Unit and produced public service announcement videos on bicycle safety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The videos can be viewed on the city\u2019s website,\u00a0ocnj.us\/bikesafety<\/a>, and at 7 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. on OCTV-97 (Channel 97 on local Comcast).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But these safety initiatives and measures aren\u2019t enough, according to Dr. John Albert of Fort Meyers Beach, Fla., who owns property in Ocean City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Albert\u2019s stepson, Tom Gibbons Jr. of Landsdale, Pa., was crossing Eighth Street and Bay Avenue with his wife, Stephanie, on May 25 when a motorist struck both of them. Stephanie was injured and recovered but Tom was killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gibbons was the second pedestrian fatality this year in Ocean City. In January, an 82-year-old Seaville woman died after she was hit by a car crossing Eighth Street by a 26-year-old driver from Sweetwater.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gibbons\u2019 death prompted Albert to attend the June 27 council meeting and implore the city administration for additional safety measures for pedestrians and bicyclists. Albert said he\u2019s heard from city solicitor Dorothy McCrosson, who directed him to call county officials, since that stretch of Bay Avenue is a county road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Albert said the only thing the city did was park an unattended police cruiser near the intersection to deter speeding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re telling me the corner is under county supervision. They\u2019re concerned about litigation and they\u2019re waiting to hear from the county,\u201d Albert said. \u201cMy focus right here is on this corner because that\u2019s where my stepson died.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Albert said he doesn\u2019t walk along the streets with his family anymore during peak traffic times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On a recent trip to the beach, Albert said he saw two accidents; one involving multiple vehicles and another involving a pedestrian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFor a community this size, there\u2019s a real pervasive problem with the dangers of walking the streets,\u201d Albert said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He said accidents abound in the city, with motorists hitting pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s so many accidents within the city,\u201d Albert said. \u201cIt\u2019s an epidemic here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Albert noted the traffic patterns on the island haven\u2019t changed since the 1940s, but the volume of vehicles and types of vehicles have. He said more development brings more vehicles and increases traffic on the roadways, especially in the summer months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you just had a more sensible traffic pattern where it slowed things down and gave people less options for turning, I think you\u2019d cut down on a lot of the risks,\u201d Albert said, adding cities have installed one-way streets that cut down confusion at intersections and reduce the number of possible turns. \u201cThere are a lot of things that could be done to change the traffic patterns from an archaic type pattern that\u2019s been here forever to a more updated, pedestrian-friendly pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Albert suggested lowering the speed limit, creating one-way streets and using signalized intersections for enhancing pedestrian safety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not trying to beat up Ocean City by no means,\u201d Albert said. \u201cThere\u2019s some very nice things about Ocean City. The traffic is not one of them. The traffic is extremely dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff OCEAN CITY \u2014 In the wake of recent pedestrian fatalities and accidents involving automobiles and bicycles, the public called upon the city to increase traffic safety measures. At City Council\u2019s July 11 meeting, resident Susan Cracovaner noted that automobiles on Asbury and West avenues regularly exceed the speed limit, traveling …<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s \u2018traffic is extremely dangerous\u2019 Advocates urge city to take steps to improve safety for walkers, bicyclists<\/span> Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[85],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_lock":["1564082447:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["71"],"site-sidebar-layout":["default"],"site-content-layout":["default"],"theme-transparent-header-meta":["default"],"stick-header-meta":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:263:\".uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-desktop) !important}@media (max-width: 976px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-tablet) !important}}@media (max-width: 767px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-mobile) !important}}\n\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:2:{i:0;s:14:\"core\/tag-cloud\";i:1;s:11:\"core\/search\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1706048605\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"],"rank_math_primary_category":["71"],"rank_math_news_sitemap_robots":["index"],"rank_math_robots":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"index\";}"],"rank_math_analytic_object_id":["57"],"rank_math_internal_links_processed":["1"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-3177.css"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"OC FIT GUY","author_link":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/author\/meltaylor\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By ERIC AVEDISSIAN Sentinel staff OCEAN CITY \u2014 In the wake of recent pedestrian fatalities and accidents involving automobiles and bicycles, the public called upon the city to increase traffic safety measures. At City Council\u2019s July 11 meeting, resident Susan Cracovaner noted that automobiles on Asbury and West avenues regularly exceed the speed limit, traveling…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fairnessintaxes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}